The Latest: Mourners express grief for fallen officer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of a police officer in Kansas City, Kansas (all times local):

6:20 p.m.

The shooting of a Kansas City, Kansas, police captain drew swift condemnation as mourners gathered outside the main entrance of the hospital where the officer died.

Local Baptist preacher Jimmie Banks, who is a friend of the city’s mayor, sat dejected on a bench Tuesday with his head lowered after attending a news conference announcing Capt. Robert Melton’s death.

The minister says it was painful to sit in the room and see the grief-stricken faces during the announcement.

Across town at the shooting scene, Susan Goble sobbed inconsolably after placing a small wreath at the spot where Melton was shot.

She says officers who watched her lay the wreath were grieving just like everybody else.

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5:20 p.m.

A spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the agency has about 20 agents on the scene of a fatal shooting of a Kansas City, Kansas, officer.

Spokesman John Ham said the ATF will provide help with ballistics if required, but are currently assisting with the investigation.

Ham also called it a “large crime scene.”

Authorities say 46-year-old Capt. Robert Melton was shot multiple times in his vehicle on Tuesday afternoon when he pulled up to a person who matched the description of a suspect. A suspect in Melton’s shooting was taken into custody.

Asked whether there’s evidence that the officers on the scene were ambushed, Ham said he didn’t know, adding, “The investigation needs to play out before that can be determined.”

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5:15 p.m.

Authorities say a person who is believed to have pulled the trigger in the fatal shooting of a Kansas City, Kansas, police captain is in custody.

Police spokesman Tom Tomasic also said Tuesday that authorities think they have all suspects in custody in the officer’s shooting, as well as from an earlier report of shots fired.

Tomasic says a suspect was taken into custody around 2:04 p.m. about a block away from where 46-year-old Capt. Robert Melton was shot in his patrol car.

Tomasic says Melton did not respond to the scene of an earlier report of shots fired, but was looking for suspects in an area about 20 blocks away when he pulled up to a person who matched a suspect’s description. He says the man opened fire before Melton could get out of his vehicle.

Tomasic says he has been told a fourth person that police thought was a suspect might not have been involved.

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4:25 p.m.

Kansas City, Kansas, Police Chief Terry Zeigler says the officer who was shot and killed came after officers responded to a drive-by shooting.

Zeigler says the suspected vehicle fled at about 2 p.m. Tuesday and led police on a chase.

That chase ended when Capt. Robert Melton arrived and the suspects jumped out of the car and opened fire, hitting Melton multiple times. Melton was declared dead at a hospital.

The chief noted at a news conference that the community is still recovering from the shooting death of Kansas City police detective Brad Lancaster, who was gunned down near Kansas Speedway in May.

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4:10 p.m.

A surgeon in the Kansas City, Kansas, area says that the officer who was shot multiple times by suspects in an earlier shooting has died.

University of Kansas trauma surgeon James Howard says the officer, Capt. Robert Melton, arrived just before 2:30 p.m. and that resuscitation efforts did not work.

The officer was shot Tuesday afternoon in his car as he approached people matching the description of suspects in an earlier shooting.

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3:45 p.m.

Police in Kansas City, Kansas, say a ranking officer was in his patrol car when he was shot multiple times by suspects in an earlier shooting.

Spokesman Tom Tomasic says officers responded around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to a report of an armed disturbance involving shots fired at a person from people in a car.

He says three or four suspects jumped out of the car after police arrived at the scene. One person was taken into custody there, and a second was apprehended later.

About a half-hour after the initial report, an officer saw people matching the suspects’ description 20 blocks from the original scene and approached them in his patrol car.

Tomasic says the officer was shot multiple times and his wounds are considered life-threatening, but he couldn’t say where on the body the officer was shot.

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3:10 p.m.

An officer with Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department is in critical condition after being shot while investigating a report of person being shot at by several people in a vehicle.

Police say three or four people were inside the vehicle but jumped out and ran when officers arrived at the scene at 1:37 p.m. Tuesday. An officer took a suspect into custody at 1:39 p.m. A different officer was shot at 1:57 p.m. when he tried to make contact with another suspect.